Curcumin loaded ZnO nanoflowers: a novel paradigm of harnessing the beauty of nanoscale morphologies for synergistic enhancements in nanocomposite properties Nilushi Pramodi 1 , Lahiru Wijenayaka 1 , Ranga Dissanayake 2 , Asha Wickramapala 1 1 The Open University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka, 2 University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka A paramount challenge in material science is engineering novel composite materials with synergistic improvements in properties, 1 while not at the expense of utilizing morphological variants that are known to be environmentally or biologically incompatible. 2,3 Ironically, however, the most compatible nanoscale morphology, the well-studied spheres, 4 poses restrictions in applicability, specifically due to the limited surface area it allows for functionalization in engineering advanced nanomaterials.5 This challenge is successfully addressed in the reported work, where superficially spherical ZnO nanoflowers were effectively synthesized via a novel and facile low-temperature synthesis. It was hypothesized that the superficial nature of the nanomaterial would provide an advantage in maintaining compatibility, while the presence of surface and internal crevices would allow increased area for functionalization. Hence, the as-synthesized nanoparticles were functionalized with curcumin, a chemical with versatile applicability, to produce an advanced nanocomposite (Cur-ZnO). The surface loading of curcumin on Cur-ZnO, experimentally quantified to be 3.7 ± 0.3 ppt, confirmed the enhanced surface area available for functionalization, while indicating the potential of the nanocomposite in producing synergistic improvements in ensuing properties. The performance of the nanocomposite in various potential applications was evaluated. First, the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue indicated that Cur-ZnO produced extremely efficient photocatalysis, while that of ZnO or curcumin was almost negligible under simulated solar radiation. Surprisingly, the photocatalysis by Cur-ZnO effectively took place even in the absence of light. Next, antimicrobial testing indicated that Cur-ZnO has broad spectral enhanced activity compared to ZnO and curcumin, while anticancer activity evaluated with the breast cancer cell line BT-474, produced LD50 values of 77.7, 39.9, and 15.4 ppm for ZnO, curcumin, and Cur-ZnO, respectively, indicating a pronounced enhancement in cancer cell toxicity for Cur- ZnO. Finally, the antioxidant activity was investigated, where the average mass-normalized improvement in the antioxidant activity of Cur-ZnO was found to be 12.5057 ± 0.0006 %, indicating a significantly synergistic 20-fold enhancement of the antioxidant activity for Cur-ZnO. Overall, the results strongly suggest that the nanocomposite developed via apt morphological optimization is a novel and significantly efficient platform for effectively overcoming the challenges in developing advanced materials with enhanced applicability. References 1. Okpala, C.C., 2013. Nanocomposites–an overview. International Journal of Engineering Research and Development, 8(11), pp.17-23.Pramanik, P.K.D., Solanki, A., Debnath, A., Nayyar, A., El-Sappagh, S. and Kwak, K.S., 2020. Advancing modern healthcare with nanotechnology, nanobiosensors, and internet of nano things: Taxonomies, applications, architecture, and challenges. IEEE Access, 8, pp.65230-65266. 2. Wang, X., Zhao, Y., Mølhave, K. and Sun, H., 2017. Engineering the surface/interface structures of titanium dioxide micro and nano architectures towards environmental and electrochemical applications. Nanomaterials, 7(11), p.382. 3. Xu, F., Tang, Z., Huang, S., Chen, L., Liang, Y., Mai, W., Zhong, H., Fu, R. and Wu, D., 2015. Facile synthesis of ultrahigh- surface-area hollow carbon nanospheres for enhanced adsorption and energy storage. Nature communications, 6(1), p.7221.
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